Prepare Ye

em_message_24sept2017_ed.m4a Download File This is my written message for Sunday, September 24 on Genesis 27:1-4, 15-23; 28:10-17, part of the story of Jacob's blessing and his dream. A recording of the message from one of the churches is above. May God’s grace and peace be with you always. AMEN. If you ever feel that your family is just a little different, or a lot different, grab your Bible, turn to Genesis, and soon you will feel better about your circle of love. To catch up from last week, Isaac, who was nearly sacrificed has married and has twin sons. Esau, the older son, is a hairy outdoorsman, and his father’s favorite. Jacob, who was born grabbing Esau’s heel, prefers life around the camp and is beloved by his mother, Rebekah. While she carried the twins, she had a vision from God that the younger son would be served by the older, a reversal of the traditional roles. Previously, Esau sold Jacob his birthright, an extra share of the inheritance,

17sept2017_sermon_em_ed.m4a Download File This is my sermon outline and an audio recording of my message for September 17. The primary lesson was Genesis 21:1-3; 22:1-14, the binding of Isaac, and John 1:26-31. Much of my message was inspired by Rob Bell in his book What Is The Bible? , and his chapter on this passage. For today’s lesson and message, I’m going to do two things differently. First , I’m going to read a portion of the lesson, then speak about it, then read another portion, and so on. Secondly , I’m going to change the names of those in the lesson to what their names mean. I think it helps with the story. Pastor        A reading from the book of Genesis, beginning in the 21st Chapter. The Lord dealt with Princess as he had said, and the Lord did for Princess as he had promised. Princess conceived and bore Father of a Multitude a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Father of a Multitude gave the name Laughter to his son

10sept2017_os_sermon_ed.m4a Download File Attached is the text of my message for September 10, 2017 on Genesis 1:1-2-4, the story of creation, and John 1.1-5, the beginning of John's prologue. A recording of my message at Our Savior's is above. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. These two lessons tell about creation. These two texts tell the same story, but they tell it from different perspectives. Genesis describes the details of creation. First this happened, and it was good. Then this happened, and it was also good. John explains what that all means. Creation in Genesis happens in pairs. On days one, two and three, creation occurs by things being separated and put into place. Light is separated from darkness. The sky is separated from the water. The land is separated from the water. Then, beginning at the end of day three, light and life comes into these separate areas. Plant life comes to the land. The lights

This is Ananias' article from the September newsletter. My Big Guy told me I had to write this month’s article because he was tired of writing. I’m glad he trusts me to help out. He’s been reading some of the stories Jesus told to me at night. These parables don’t always make sense, and I like that. It gives me something to chew on when he’s away, besides bones and some furniture. He read this one about a rich guy named Lazarus (not the one who died and was raised, this one just died) and a poor man. The story is in Luke 16:19-31. The poor man was so poor that he didn’t even have a name. So they both die; the poor guy goes with the angels, and Lazarus goes to Hades. Lazarus wants Father Abraham to send the poor guy to Lazarus’ family to warn them to change their ways. Abraham refuses, because they all heard from Moses and the prophets what they were to do. My Big Guy has explained to me that the Law of the people of Israel told them to take care of the poor, the hungry

nz_sermon_3sep17_ed.m4a Download File Here is my manuscript and a recording of my sermon from Sunday, September 3. The text was Ephesians 6:10-20. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This passage is a great one for a preacher to describe how we must defend ourselves against the evils of the world and the Evil one. We must put on the whole armor of God. We must put on: the belt of truth the breastplate of righteousness the shield of faith the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, and put your feet on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. Forgetting for a moment that we have on no pants, we are to pray. Always be praying, praying to the Spirit. We are to be alert, to pay attention, and to continue to pray for the saints, the others who are also believers that Jesus is the Son of God. But I have to admit, spending three years of my life in a monument to war, my perspective on fighting has